Packers rank 13th in NFL salary-cap room

Green Bay - The Green Bay Packers are $8.231 million under the NFL salary cap, which ranks 13th in available space among the 32 teams.

Starting at midnight Wednesday, all teams must count every player under contract against their salary cap. Just the 51 players with the highest salary charges have been counting since the league year started last winter.

The Packers' adjusted salary cap for 2014 is $142.325 million. Presently, their team cap for 67 players is $134.094 million.

Leading the way in cap room is Jacksonville at $24.2 million, followed by the New York Jets ($20.8 million), Cleveland ($20 million), Philadelphia ($17.8 million) and Tennessee ($13.5 million).

At the other end of the spectrum are four teams tight against the cap; St. Louis, Seattle, Washington and San Diego all have less than $2 million in cap room.

Among players counting against the Packers' cap are the four players that the team reached injury settlements with in the past week. In each case, the agent for the player negotiated with the team the number of weeks the player would be paid for his type of injury. That amount is charged against the cap for 2014.

Tight end Colt Lyerla was paid $142,588, or eight weeks of what would have his $303,000 base salary had he been on injured reserve. He had a knee injury.

Guard Andrew Tiller (calf) received four weeks pay, or $71,294. Running back Rajion Neal (knee) received $53,471, or three weeks pay. Linebacker Joe Thomas (knee) received $35,647, or two weeks pay.

The Packers are expected to reach an injury settlement with tight end Jake Stoneburner. He has an unspecified injury.

Players on the practice squad will be paid $6,300 per week. If they stay on the practice squad all season, their salary would be $107,100.

Practice-squad players also count against the salary cap.

About Bob McGinn

Bob McGinn is a beat writer and columnist covering the Green Bay Packers. A six-time Wisconsin state sportswriter of the year, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award in 2011 for long and distinguished reporting on pro football.